You make many excellent points and I want to raise another and that is the stories themselves. I agree that Bope and J&M have been stuck with the same stories for years, literally. I think instead of using the same gimmicks, they need to be inventive and come up with some new things. How about a true health crisis for one of the fab 4 and not like that shit we got with Bo because that was nothing more than a way to introduce Dr. God and have his lust after a child.

Days could admit that the fab 4 are aging and do a menapause story for one of the ladies and let that cause some havoc. They could do a breast cancer storyline (didn't they start one with Kate) and let that play out.

The stories need to come from within and be organic to the characters rather than some big bad evil force from outside. That is why the autism storyline has promisel but so far its not playing out to its potential.

I don't claim to speak for everyone but I do know there a lot of people who feel the same way that I do in that I watch soaps to escape from reality for just a little while. Soaps are about fantasy and the fantastic.

I get plenty enough reality in my daily life and from all the other shows I watch. Health crises have been done before on Days and other soaps, so that's nothing new or refreshing. Like Bo's recent health crisis which was really about hooking up Chelsea and Dr. Dan and had very little to do with Bope at all.

So many people have been touched by health crises of their own or of close family members or friends I can't believe that during their escape time they would want to watch it on their soap.

Sorry but I dont' think menopause would make a good story at all.

I'll take bad evil forces over real life drama any day. If want to watch people with medical problems I'll watch ER.

Well, I guess something has to give, because there ARE people who enjoy those kind of shows. Soaps do them all the time.As bad it sounds, I hope they do justice to Kate's storyline. There's a reason Hallmark and Movies of the Week do well. Sometimes people WANT to see those they identify with. I certainly don't identify with trying to save a woman's soul from Satan or crap like that. With me, a little romance goes a LONG way. And a good soap CAN combine social issues and human interest with romance. Case in point....the positive comments about how Night Shift handles THEIR autism storyline. The attention the reality facelift storyline of Kay on Y&R.

How about some romance and love in watching a loved one struggle and fight their way back to health? Being drawn closer by tragedy? Losing a business and building it back up?

Exactly.

In all honesty, I like escapism too but many will find escapism in realitic stories. The escapism comes from getting lose in the situations of the characters. It doesn't necessarily come from the story itself. Say Marlena has cancer. Well, the viewer can immerse themself in how she and her loved ones deal with it. It's escapism in the sense that it captivates you and you may even learn something too. This is especially true for those personally affected by something a character is going through. It may be hard to watch but I've always seen responses from people who embrace stories like this. I remember when Chloe had leukemia and Nadia mentioned how well-received it was and how her, Patricka, and Kevin were getting such positive responses from people who enjoyed the story and were really affected by it. That is what soaps have always been about. Romance, emotion, drama...it all goes hand in hand.

If the show strictly sticks with the fantastic and fantasy, your going down a slippery slope because fans can't relate to that at all and breaks the connection between fan and show. It may be entertaining but it's not as emotionally effective and it's those type of stories that drove many fans away in the first place. It attracted new ones but many fans turned away. Days has always done well when it's grounded. Even the adventures in the 80's were grounded. I also think fans are sick of it. Look what happened with Passions. It went way too far and it lost it's audience. The show worked much better when it was balanced as far as storytelling. JER's last stint on Days was nothing but fantastic and fantasy and pretty much every fan called for his head so I really do doubt most fans want that kind of storytelling. Plus, if you go with fantasy and the fantastic, your limiting story big time. You can only do so much that is grounded before you start going into stuff like Melaswen, the Possession (which was semi-grounded but still), witchcraft and other "out there" things.

There can still be fantasy components and the fantastic if you have a realistic show. Today's Nicole/EJ scenes had this beautiful element of fantasy as EJ was saying things to Nicole that she has dreamed of for so long. If Days continues that direction with them, they can make a very nice fairly tale love story with that. In my experience, most want a character-driven/realistic show with some gothic, campy, and plot-driven elements. I think if Days can combine everything, it will be fine. There is no pleasing everyone but that will probably be the most successful strategy given how many fans want different things.